Inheritance used in child support calculation

[jeffro]

Soc,

I have custody of my 10 year old son in Dayton, Oh.  I have had it for approximately 2.5 years.  I won a psych eval and guardian ad litem during our divorce.   I didn't recieve CS for 2.5 years and she didn't receive allimony for that period.  Now that 2.5 years is up I hear she is taking me to court again.  Her father passed and she received 44K cash and 25% ownership in 198K in property that will be sold.  Our agreement is shared parenting which she agreed to with me being the residential parent.

Questions:
1.  For CS, could her inheritance be used to increase her amount?

2.  We will have to do GAL and psych eval again,

3.  Who is responsible for the legal fee's.  

Thanks,
Jeff

[socrateaser]

>Questions:
>1.  For CS, could her inheritance be used to increase her
>amount?

Inheritance is not generally treated as income for the purposes of calculating support, nor is any one-time windfall amount, such as sale of a home, etc. However, the investment income that actually or is reasonably likely to come from ownership of the inherited property is subject to inclusion into a person's income for child support, so if she receives, say $44K+$50K from the sale of the house and the cash of the estate, then the interest or dividends earned on that $90K+ would be available for use in the support calculation.

>2.  We will have to do GAL and psych eval again,

A support mod is based only on finances. If your ex is looking for spousal support, I can pretty much guarantee that she won't get any unless she is the primary custodian of the children.
>
>3.  Who is responsible for the legal fee's.  

You are both responsible for your own legal fees, unless one of the parties askes the other to pay, in which case, the court will decide equitable attorney fees (fair) based on the need of the requesting party and the ability of the other party to pay. You should also ask for attorney fees from your ex, that way the court will look at both of your respective needs and ability to pay, and since you are the primary custodian, once again, I suspect that the other party will be denied the award, because it will harm the children.

Works great when you have the kids -- when you don't, it's unfair as hell.

Anyway, in your case, you have the edge on every issue, as long as you have custody and the kids are reasonably happy and well cared for.

[jeffro]

Soc,

I have custody of my 10 year old son in Dayton, Oh.  I have had it for approximately 2.5 years.  I won a psych eval and guardian ad litem during our divorce.   I didn't recieve CS for 2.5 years and she didn't receive allimony for that period.  Now that 2.5 years is up I hear she is taking me to court again.  Her father passed and she received 44K cash and 25% ownership in 198K in property that will be sold.  Our agreement is shared parenting which she agreed to with me being the residential parent.

Questions:
1.  For CS, could her inheritance be used to increase her amount?

2.  We will have to do GAL and psych eval again,

3.  Who is responsible for the legal fee's.  

Thanks,
Jeff

[socrateaser]

>Questions:
>1.  For CS, could her inheritance be used to increase her
>amount?

Inheritance is not generally treated as income for the purposes of calculating support, nor is any one-time windfall amount, such as sale of a home, etc. However, the investment income that actually or is reasonably likely to come from ownership of the inherited property is subject to inclusion into a person's income for child support, so if she receives, say $44K+$50K from the sale of the house and the cash of the estate, then the interest or dividends earned on that $90K+ would be available for use in the support calculation.

>2.  We will have to do GAL and psych eval again,

A support mod is based only on finances. If your ex is looking for spousal support, I can pretty much guarantee that she won't get any unless she is the primary custodian of the children.
>
>3.  Who is responsible for the legal fee's.  

You are both responsible for your own legal fees, unless one of the parties askes the other to pay, in which case, the court will decide equitable attorney fees (fair) based on the need of the requesting party and the ability of the other party to pay. You should also ask for attorney fees from your ex, that way the court will look at both of your respective needs and ability to pay, and since you are the primary custodian, once again, I suspect that the other party will be denied the award, because it will harm the children.

Works great when you have the kids -- when you don't, it's unfair as hell.

Anyway, in your case, you have the edge on every issue, as long as you have custody and the kids are reasonably happy and well cared for.